Apparatus for rereeling strip metal



July 26, 1932. c. E. BEDELL ET AL APPARATUS FOR REREELING STRIP METAL Filed Jan. 25, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS W 6M WITNESSES M ly 26 1932. c. E. BEDELL ET AL 1,869,004

APPARATUS FOR REREELING STRIP METAL Filed Jan. 25, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES INVENTORS We M rf. 6% f6. ((4% 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 |NVENTOR$ Mama July 26, 1932. c. E. BEDELL ET AL APPARATUS FOR REREELING STRIP METAL Filed Jan. 25, 1930 wrrusssss July 26, 1932. c. E.. BEDELL ET AL APPARATUS FOR REREELING STRIP METAL Filed Jan. 25, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS Patented July. 26, 1932 TES UNITED, STA

PATENT OFFICE our. in. nnnnnn, or srmnalmn, AND ans-arm J. oas'rnn, or wnnnnme, WEST vraemu. assrexoas 'ro wnnnnme Bram. coaronnrron, or mature, wns'r vm- GINLA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE .AIFPARATUS FOR STRIP METAL Application filed January 25, 1980. Serial 1T0. 428,359.

This invention relates to a machine for rereeling coils of metal strip, and while it may be utilized for tightly rereeling loose- 1y reeled strip, it is particularly applicable to loosely rereeling tlghtly. reeled strip, and is so illustrated and described herein.

It is a very common practice in the manufacture of strip metal, which is usually produced in long and unwieldy strips, to reel the strips into coils as they issue from the rolling mills so thatthey will be easier to handle. The strips when so coiled are usually subjected to so much tension that there is insuificient space between the adjacent turns of the coils to permit an annealing or heat treating atmosphere to penetrate between them when the coils are subjected to a treatment of this nature. Hence it is necessary to either unwind the coils and anneal the strips flat, or to prolong the annealing of the reeled coils for such periods of 'time as are necessary to permit the heat to penetrate them. A 1 p The primary object of this invention is to provide a machine for speedily and dependably unreeling tightly woundcoils of strip metal and rereeling them in'such a way that adequate space is allowed between their adjacent turns to permitan annealing or like atmosphere to penetrate them ith ease. For insuring aspace between the adjacent turns of a coilbeing rereeled, it is an object of the invention to provide for positively driving both of the rotatable reels upon which the unreeling and rereeling coils are mounted, and to further provide for controlling their relative speeds in such a way that the tension of the strip being .rereeled will-,be at all times under the'control of the operator.

A further-objeet-is to provide in the ma,. chine. for tilting the unreelin reel in a man ner to facilitate the loading 0 the coils thereon, and for also collapsing the rereeling reel so that a rereeled coil may be lifted from it with ease.

. A still further object isjto provide a mav chine of the above described character which is of simple, sturdy and compact construc in operation, and also capable of being manufactured ata comparatively low cost.

These and other objects, as well as the novel features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying. drawings, of which Fig. 1 is a perspective v1ew looking from one side of a machine constructed in ac-v cordance with what is now considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 a similar view taken from the opposite side of the same machine;-Fig. 3 a top plan view of the same with the cover plate removed; Fig. 4 a sectional view taken on the line IVIV of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 a sectional view taken on the line V-V of Fig. 3 Fig. 6 a sectional view taken on a horizontal lane through a clutch mechanism; Fig. 7 a etail elevation of the clutch mechanism shown in Fig. 6 taken from the outer face of the clutch plate; Figs. 8 and 9 perspective views, respectively, of pins employed in the ends of the grooves in the clutch gear; Fig. 10 a simiar view of the clutch gear engaging pin; and Fig. 11 a section taken on the line XI-XI of Fig. 7.

Referring now to the drawings, the humoral 1 designates thebase of the'machine, and the numerals 2, 3 and 4, respectively, the two side walls and one end wall of a housing. Over the tops of these walls' there is suitably secured a cover plate 5, in which, or flush with which, an unreeling reel 6 and a rereeling reel 7 are rotatably mounted on vertical axes,

loading coils to be rewound upon the machine, and beingv provided with a slightly elevated cone-like center portion 10 for centralizing the coils thereon. To further insure against a coil getting out bf place in this reel holes may be drilled adjacent its center and pins placed in them to positively hold the coils on the reel.

In order that the tension on the strip,.as it is being rereeled, may be controlled or entirely eliminated as may be desired, for the .purpose of determining spacing between the adjacent turns of the rereeled coil, both the unreeling and the rereeling reels are power driven, and the relative speeds made controllable at the will of the operator. For driv- 5 ing the two a single electric motor 8 (Fig. 3) mounted upon a shelf 9 is employed, its armature being connected to a shaft 11 that in turn is connected through a suitable gear unit 12 to a main drive shaft 13. On the rear end of this shaft there is keyed a beveled gear 14 meshing with a cooperating bevel gear 15 secured to the bottom of a hub-like supporting member 16 (Fig. 4) upon which the rereeling reel is mounted, and through which arrangement the rereeling table is driven at a constantly relative speed with re spect to that of the driving motor.

With the rereeling table thus driven at a constant relative speed with respect to that of the driving motor, it is necessary to provide for variably controlling the speed of the unreeling table in order to make it possible to control the tension in a strip being recoiled or to eliminate it entirely if such is desired. Toward this end a variable drive is provided for the unreeling reel comprising a sprocket wheel 17 keyed to the front end of the main drive shaft 13 (Fig. 5). From this sprocket wheel a chain 18 is'passed over another sprocket wheel- 19 mounted on an auxiliary drive shaft 21, which in turn carrles a friction wheel 22 (Fig. 4) bearing against the underside of the unreeling reel. To provide for varying the speed imparted to the unreeling reel, friction wheel 22 is mounted for axial movement along the length of shaft 21 by means of a key which is passed through a longitudinal slot 23 cut in the' shaft. Hence by moving the friction wheel, which is driven at a constant speed with respect to that of the motor, toward or away from the center of the unreeling reel, such reel may be caused to rotate at different speeds, the speed depending upon the displacement of the friction wheel from the center of the unreeling reel.

For rendering the friction wheel readily movable at the will of the operator, so that he may change the speed of rotation of the unreeling reel in accordance with the change in thediameters of the unreeling and rereeling coils, and in that'way control the tension upon the strip as it is recoiled, a control lever 20 (Fig. 1) is connected, by means of a shaft between friction wheel 22 and the unreeling reel may be varied to ,take up the slack between the two as the surface ofthe friction -wheel wears away, shaft '21 is mounted in a pair of arms 26 and 27 pivotally supported in the-base of frame 1 at a point som wh 24 and a connecting link 25 (Figs. 4 and 5);

displaced from the center line of the machine, as illustrated in Fig. 5, and made sufficiently long to maintain the friction wheel in engagement with the underside of the unreeling table. Hence, by rotating these arms about their pivoted ends, the friction wheel may be raised toward or moved away from the unreeling table to vary its frictional engagement therewith. For moving shaft 21 in the manner desired, and for retaining it in a selected position with respect to the unreeling table, an adjusting rod 28 (Figs. 3 and 5) is employed. One end of this rod is connected by means of loosely fitting eye 29 to shaft 21, and the other end is passed through a hole in the wall 3 Where it is engaged by an adjustable wheel 31 threaded thereon. For biasing shaft 21 to the position selected by the adjustment of wheel 31, a spring 32 is mounted on rod 28 between the. wall of the machine and a lug 33 formed on the rod at a distance spaced from the wall.

In order to make it possible to move shaft 21 to vary the engagement between friction wheel 22 and the underside of the unreeling table without changing the length of chain 19, and also to keep the chain taut at all times, an idler wheel 34 (Fig. 5,) is pivotally supported by a link 35 and biased toward its chain-tightening position by a spring 36 connected between the link and wall 2.

To facilitate the loading of coils upon the machine, as has beenreferred to hereinbefore, the unreeling reel is tiltably mounted in the open end of the machine. The reel itself is rotatably supported upon a normally vertically disposed stub shaft 37 (Fig. 4) which forms the free end of a pivotally mounted support member 38 securely keyed to thecenter of a transverse shaft 39 mounted in apair of bearing sup orts 41. This support member is curved or placing the center of gravity of the unreeling reel between the center of shaft 39 and friction wheel 22 on which the reelrests so that the weight of the reel and the coil mounted thereon automatically holds the reel in engagement with the friction wheel when it is in .its operating position. By mounting the un-.

reeling reel in this way, it may be tilted on its side,'as shown in full lines in Fig. 2 and in dotted lines in Fig. 4, to facilitate the placing of a coil on it. Thereafter, the reel maybe raised to its operative position by simply rotating shaft 39. For supporting a coil when it is leaned against the reel, and for holding it in place when the reel is raised, an arm 42 is employed, the arm being provided with a pair of trunnions 43 and 44 keyed to'shaft 39. For counterbalancing the unbalanced weight of arm 42, and a coil mounted thereon, levers 45 and 46 are formed integral with trunnions 43 and 44 and extended therefrom on the opposite .side of shaft 39 to that of the arm, and on these levers a pair of adjustable counterbalancing weights 47 and 48 are mounted.

In order to utilize motor 8 for tilting the unreeling reel to its coil-receiving position and for returning it again to its operating position, a driving connection is provided between drive shaft 13'and reel supporting shaft 39. This driving connection comprises a bevel gear 49 (Figs. 3 and 4) keyed to the unreeling end of shaft 13 and meshing with a cooperating bevel gear 51 loosely arranged upon a transverse shaft 52 mounted in a pair of bearing supports53 and 54. For transmitting the movement of shaft 52 to shaft 39, a pair of crank arms 55 and 56, mounted on shaft 52, are connected to'a pair of cooperating cranks 57 and 58, made integral with the trunnions 43 and 44 of arm 42, by means of a pair ofconnecting rods 59 and 61,- respectively, the arrangement and lengths of these cranks and rods being such that a complete revolution of shaft 52 causes reel 6 to move to and from its operating and tilted positions. I

A clutch is provided between gear 51 and shaft 52 so that reel 6 may at will be moved to and from its operating and tilted positions, and maintained in each. This clutch comprises a ring-shaped clutch block 62 (Figs. 6 and 7.) keyed to shaft 52 with one of its faces adjacent one face of gear 51.

In an axially disposed slot 63 cut in block 62 at a distance spaced from the center thereof, there is slidably fitted a clutch pin 64. This pin is normally biased toward the face of the gear 51 by a spring 65 arranged in a hole 66 cut in the pin, andhaving one of its ends bearing against the bottom of the hole and the other against a plate '67 fitted in a slot in the clutch block. In the face of gear 51 directly'opposite to the clutch pin three 'arcuate pin-engaging grooves 68 are provided, into which grooves pin 64 is caused to move to engage the clutch block with gear 51 and cause the shaft 52 to rotate with gear 51. 0

For releasably holding the clutch pin 64 out of operative engagement with the grooves 68 in gear 51, a pair of clutch cams 69 and 71 are mounted upon a clutch plate 72 which in turn is slidably mounted in a groove )73 disposed on the inner side of bearing support 53. In plate 72 there is an elongate opening 74 havingrounded ends adjacent to which the cams are secured, this opening being made only sufficiently long to permit the plate to be moved far enough in one direction or the other to release clutch pin 64, which is normally held by one of the cams, and place the other cam in the path of the pin so that the pin will be again raised to its inoperative position after it has been; permitted to travel an angular distance of 180 degrees, or in other words after it has moved to the other side ,of the shaft from which it started. This corresponds to a move- 'ment sufficient to move the unreeling reel these cam portions 7 6-are tapered at 78 toward the face of the gear 51 so that the clutch plate. side of the clutch pin groove 77, which is rounded at the edge for that reason, will come in contact with the slanted side. of the cams and be gradually lifted out ofen'gagement with the ends of grooves 68 in gear 51 as it moves. When the' clutch pin is once picked up in this way, the connection between shaft 52 and gear 51 is broken, hence no movement thereafter will be imparted to the unreeling table, except that occasioned by momentum of the machine and, to insure against carrying the clutch pin out of engagement with the cam, block portions 7 5 are adapted to prevent the pins moving all the way across the cams.

In order to release the clutch pin after it has been picked up by one of the cams and again set shaft 52 in motion, all that is necessary is' to move the clutch plate sufiiciently to disengage the cam from the slot 77in the pin and allow spring 65 to project the'pin against the face of the gear,so that it will be forced into the first groove 68 pass ing thereunder. The movement of the clutch plate this amount places the opposite cam in the path of the clutch pin, whereby the pin is again lifted out of engagement with gear 51 after it has caused shaft 52 to rotate 180 degrees. For moving the clutch plate from one position to another, a lever 50 is connected to the :plate by means of a shaft and a connecting link 70.

To protect clutch pin 64 from being injured when it isforced into one of the grooves 68 by the spring upon being released by one of the cams, a gear pin 79, having a sloping portion 81 on its exposed end, is fitted in a hole-82 in gear 51 at the forward end of each of the grooves 68. Hence, as the clutch pin moves into oneof these grooves it slides down the inclined portion 81 of the gear pins 84 are arranged in holes 85 cut in the gear 51 at the pin-engaging ends of the grooves. To provide a flat sufface against which the clutch pin may bear, a notch 86 is cut in each of these latter gear 'ins. In order that the different gear pins 9 and 84 may be readily removed when they become worn or otherwise damaged, comparatively small holes 87 and 88 are drilled from the opposite side of gear 51 into the pin holes 82 and 85 for the reception of instruments by means of which the gear pins may be driven out of their respective holes.

For engaging the strip on the rereeling "reel, and for forming a. core about which it may be coiled, a collapsible core 101 (Figs. 1,

2 and4) is arranged in the center of reel 7..

This is formed of a plurality of radiallyadjustable cylindrical-shaped sections 102, each of which is pivotally connected to the 'underside of the table by an arm 103 and on the inside of each of which there is formed brackets and a similar bracket 106, formed on machine.

a ring 107 loosely fitted in an annular groove in anadjusting sleeve 108, there is a connecting link 105. Sleeve 108 is provided with a wheel 109 at its upper end by means of which it may be readily turned at the will of the operator, and is provided with an internal thread which engages a thread on the outersurface of a sleeve 111 arranged so that turning of sleeve 108 causes it to be raised or lowered. Sections 102 of the reel'are there-.

by caused to expand or contract in accordance with the movement imparted thereto by links 105.

The sleeve 111 is loosely mounted upon the end of a shaft 112 which is extended upwardly through the center of reel support member 16. The lower end of this shaft rests on a projection 113 formed-in the base of the For engaging the bottom of sleeve 111 and holding it in place, a cap 114 is fitted upon the upper end of reel support member 16, and beneath it there is a bearing 115.

While the coils rereeled on the machine may be lifted from collapsible core 101 in any. desired manner, they may be lifted by a circular magnet. To prevent the collapsible core from affecting the flux set up by the magnet so as not to attract the inner turns of the coil to the core and thereby pull the coil apart as it is lifted from the machine, core sections 102 are preferably made of some nonmagnetic material, such as brass, or at least provided with a sufiiciently thick outer shell of non-magnetic material to make them substantially non-magnetic.

For guiding the strip as it moves from the unreeling to the rereeling reel, a pair of guides 116 and 117 (F igsjl and 2) are mounted on cover plate 5 between the two reels. These guides are tapered outwardly at their ends to facilitate the movement of the strip through them, and, to prevent the strip from being injured by contact with their walls, a pair of buffer-like ribs 118 and 119 are secured in grooves 121 and 122, respectively. These ribs may be made of wood or any other suitable material capable of withstanding the wear, but nevertheless soft enough not to injure the strip. To prevent the edge of the strip which rides on the top of the machine rolled onto arm 42 and leaned against the unreeling reel.

The clutch is then again moved and the coil and table raised to the top of the machine. When it reaches this position the motor is stopped, and the loose end of the strip fed through the guides and engaged in the collapsible core 101 on the rereeling reel, which core is then expanded and the motor restarted, thus starting the rereeling. Simultaneously with this the operator starts manipulating the speed regulating lever 20 to control the speed of the unreeling reel in such a way that it is driven at the proper speed to obtain the desired tension on the strip, the speeds of this reel being' contmuously changed as the diameters ofthe two coils change. After the rereeling operation has been completed, the motor is stopped and thecollapsible core contracted. The rereeled coil is then lifted from the rereeling reel, placing the machine in shapefor a repetition of the cycle of operation.

As will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, a machine thus constructed, although especially adapted for use in loose- 1y rereeling tightly Wound coils of metal strip, is also capable of use for tightly rereelingloosely reeled coils by merely making the speed of the unreeling reel sufficiently slower than that of the rereeling coil to provide the necessary tension in the strip.

Among the chief advantages of the invention is the simple, economic, and speedy manner in which tightly wound coils of metalstrip may be loosely rewound to prepare them for an annealing treatment or treatment of that character. Another advantage of the invention resides in the minimum amount of manthe scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a machine for unreeling and rereeling coils of metal strip, the combination with a power driven rereeling reel fixedly arranged for rotation on a vertical axis, of a power driven unreeling reel arranged for rotation on a vertical axis and pivotally mounted to permit its being tilted at an angle thereto for loading coils upon it.

2. In a machine for unreeling and rereeling coils of metal strip, the combination of a rereeling reel arranged for rotation on a vertical axis, an unreeling reel arranged for rotation on a vertical axis and pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis to permit its being tilted to facilitate the loading of a coil thereon, means for driving the rereeling reel at a constant speed and the unreeling reel at a. variable speed, and means for tilting the unreeling reel to its coil receiving position and returning it again to its operating position.

3. In a machine for unreeling and rereeling coils of metal strip, the combination of a means for connecting said motor to thetilting mechanism of the unreeling reel to render the tilting of said reel controllable at will. a

6. In a machine for unreeling and rereeling of rotation to facilitate the loading of a coil upon it and returning it and the coil to the unreeling position, and a clutch interposed between said power and tilting means for controlling the operation of the latter at will.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto sign our names.

- CARL E. BEDELL.

ALFRED J. CASTLE.

power driven rereeling reel having a table arranged for rotation 1n a horizontal plane, a disc-like unreeling reel having a table arranged for rotation in the same plane and pivotally mounted to permit its being tilted to facilitate the loading of a coil thereon, and a power driven adjustably mounted friction wheel arranged to bear on the under side of said unreeling table and rotate it, said unreeling reel having its center of gravity spaced from its pivotal support toward the point where it is engaged by said friction wheel whereby its table is automatically held in engagement with the friction wheel when in its operating position.

4. In a machine for unreeling and rereeling coils of metal strip, the combinationof a power driven rereellng reel having a table arranged for rotation in a horizontal plane, a tiltably mounted power driven unreeling reel having a table arranged for rotation in the same plane, and power operable means controllable at will for tilting the table of said unreeling reel at an angle to its plane of rotation and for returning it again to its operating position.

5. In a machine ing coils of metal strip, the combination I with a rereeling reel having a table arranged for unreeling and rereel- 

